Chapter 1690: Enlightenment Between the Real and the Illusory
Chapter 1690: Enlightenment Between the Real and the Illusory
“At this point in time, the Immortal Road remains open. The stage after Dao Integration is true immortality.”
Even if this was merely the Mountain and Sea in a state where reality and illusion intermingled, whatever was meant to exist still did. Standing atop the Divine Wood, Li Fan could faintly sense the almost palpable aura of the Immortal Realm. It felt as if, with just a little more effort, he could ascend and soar away.
“The restrictions truly weren’t as severe as they would later become. It was genuinely possible to become an immortal.”
“What a pity that as the immortal regions of the Immortal Realm collapsed one after another, the terrified host of immortals, desperate for a path to survival, placed ever greater hopes on the proving grounds of the lower realms.”
“That was what led to the situation in the Rotten Axe Dojo, where no living being—aside from those with powerful backgrounds, those who hailed from the Immortal Realm itself, or the chosen few—had any chance of a successful ascension. Even if their strength and cultivation were sufficient, all that awaited them was an unceasing barrage of celestial thunder.”
“But then again, the Rotten Axe Dojo, and the Xuanhuang Realm in particular, was a true treasure ground that even many Nameless Immortals vied to enter. I wonder what those who exhausted every means to ascend and leave would think if they knew the truth.”
Li Fan stood upon the Divine Wood, lost in these thoughts as he slowly drew a deep breath.
He once again drew upon the life force and cultivation of hundreds of thousands of Divine Wood Sect cultivators, channeling their power and slowly converting it into feedback for his own cultivation.
“The only way to act without arousing suspicion is to follow the natural course of things—to manipulate this world using only the inherent power of the Mountain and Sea, born within this very illusion.”
“However... with only a Dao Integration cultivation base, replicating everything Mingshu once did is proving to be quite a strain.”
“It’s time for the next step.”
Although the Divine Wood Sect also had Dao Integration cultivators, not all at that stage were equal. Li Fan stood atop the Divine Wood in broad daylight for a long time, yet incredibly, no one was able to detect him.
Even the Divine Wood itself remained completely unaware.
Li Fan’s figure flickered, and in a single instant, he took a hundred steps across the crown of the Divine Wood.
It was as if he were tracing an arcane formation.
Simultaneously, the auras of the hundreds of thousands of Divine Wood Sect cultivators below were stirred, surging toward Li Fan like a great tide.
They spiraled up the trunk of the Divine Wood, coiling and intertwining.
Like countless converging ropes, all the power gathered in Li Fan’s hands.
“Go!”
With Li Fan's quiet command, these ropes of power connected with the ethereal afterimages left by his previous steps.
“Cultivators occupy the Divine Wood to benefit from the Mountain Sitting Technique.”
“The Divine Wood is immeasurably stronger than the cultivators. Thus, it can bear their burden and even nurture them as it grows. However...”
“This weight of the cultivators, channeled through my hands... you might not be able to bear it.”
Li Fan’s gaze darkened. Using the hundreds of thousands of cultivators under his control as a lever, he gently pressed down.
A deep, groaning sound echoed through the world’s foundation.
An immense, invisible force instantly descended upon the body of the Divine Wood.
From the outside, everything appeared normal. Not even the leaves of the Divine Wood rustled more than usual.
But in reality, the Divine Wood, which shaded a domain of fifteen thousand kilometers, along with the mountains and rivers beneath it, had been pressed down a full inch by Li Fan.
Damaging the Mountain Sitting Technique was not his intention; he was merely testing the limits of the power he could currently command.
Having achieved his goal, he quickly withdrew his power.
“From what I have seen, one doesn’t actually need a reception from the upper realm. It’s possible to step into the Mountain and Sea and become an immortal on the spot.”
“But in this era, no True Immortals were originally born. If the evolution within this illusion deviates too much from the actual history of the Mountain and Sea, the illusion will fail to remanifest.”
“To perform an act of transcendence with mortal power is indeed fraught with restrictions and quite troublesome. I fear only the Saints could accomplish it.”
Li Fan’s solution was quite simple.
Since he couldn’t use external forces created out of thin air, he would simply use the immortal power that already existed within the Xuanhuang Realm.
“Regardless of the process in between, as long as the beginning and the end remain unchanged, and no external forces intervene...”
“...the illusion can be brought back to life.”
The first thing Li Fan had to do was to intercept the wisp of immortal power lingering around the Divine Wood.
The Divine Wood came from beyond the realm, a tool planted in the Xuanhuang Realm by a True Immortal from the upper realm. This was undeniable.
However, this unknown True Immortal’s methods were extremely subtle. The connection was so faint it was almost non-existent, incredibly difficult to detect.
Even with his Dao Integration cultivation, Li Fan couldn't sense the tenuous link between the Divine Wood and the distant Immortal Realm.
But now, by using the power of hundreds of thousands of cultivators to completely suppress the Divine Wood, he was finally able to find a clue after careful observation.
“This connection isn’t in the leaves or the branches. It’s hidden within the roots.”
Li Fan’s divine sense swept out. Amidst the impossibly complex network of roots that the Divine Wood had spread through the earth veins across a domain of half a million kilometers, he found the trace of its connection to the Immortal Realm.
“On the other side is another Nameless True Immortal. They are extremely cautious, terrified of their designs on the Xuanhuang Realm being exposed. The immortal power they can call upon is severely limited...”
“But as a starting point, it’s enough.”
A sharp light glinted in Li Fan’s eyes. He pressed down with both hands, suppressing the Divine Wood once more while simultaneously reorganizing its root system.
In an instant, billions of rootlets writhed like swarming dragons. They were disassembled and reassembled deep underground.
Slowly, amidst the surging earth veins, a grand formation woven from the Divine Wood’s roots took shape.
With a thought, Li Fan sent a phantom of himself leaping into the formation to preside over it.
With that, the power of the Divine Wood was completely intercepted.
The life and death of the Divine Wood now rested on his whim. He could easily suppress it without even needing to borrow the power of the hundreds of thousands of cultivators.
When the Divine Wood received that faint wisp of immortal power from the upper realm, it could only grow to a colossal size. But when Li Fan obtained it, he could turn the mundane into the miraculous, unleashing a power hundreds, even thousands of times greater.
“Next up are the immortal artifacts left behind by the various sects.”
Having intercepted the immortal power, “Li Bufan,” though only at the Dao Integration stage, was now effectively no different from a True Immortal.
Suppressing and subduing the various immortal artifacts without a sound was now an effortless task.
Although the immortal artifacts appeared to remain stored within their respective sects, they had, in fact, secretly changed masters.
After the immortal power came the Xuanhuang Realm’s world-protecting grand formation.
At this point in time, the ancient immortal formation was perfectly preserved. The power it could command surpassed even that of all the sects’ immortal artifacts combined.
After making some modifications to the ancient immortal formation, Li Fan likewise stole its immortal power for his own use.
Afterward, Li Fan meticulously searched the lands of Xuanhuang.
He ruthlessly seized everything of use, taking it for himself.
On the surface, the Xuanhuang Realm seemed calm and unchanged. But in reality, the world within had been turned upside down, utterly transformed.
Time flowed on, and Li Fan finally reached the first critical juncture in the Mountain and Sea’s memory.
This was the day in the illusory memory when Mingshu had abruptly appeared.
Billowing black energy enveloped Li Fan.
Stepping out from the body of “Li Bufan” he was possessing, he arrived at the very spot where Mingshu should have appeared.
His movements, his demeanor—everything was identical to the memory of the Mountain and Sea.
At first, he appeared somewhat disheveled, then a mix of shock and delight.
Then, he sat cross-legged and began to lay out his web.
“This position... suits me better.”
Seated high above the Xuanhuang Realm, gazing down at the myriad living beings below, Li Fan mused with satisfaction.
Though his location was not the exact center of Xuanhuang, the power he commanded already filled every corner of the realm like a dense, intricate network.
Wherever he sat, that place became the absolute center of the Xuanhuang Realm!
With his every move, the Xuanhuang Realm shifted in response.
The scene perfectly matched the Mountain and Sea’s engraved memory of Mingshu.
In that instant, the invisible web was woven!
Outside the illusory realm, on the Other Shore, Li Fan’s true self observed that at this moment, the illusion of the Mountain and Sea seemed to have grown somewhat more solid.
The scene manifested by the memory-illusion perfectly inherited what had actually happened in the real Mountain and Sea.
It was as if history was repeating itself; the transition between the real and the illusory began to flow.
The light and shadows flickered again after freezing for a moment, but they were undoubtedly much more stable.
This change, naturally, did not escape the notice of the Saints on the Other Shore.
“Fellow Daoist Xuanpin, you’re making quite rapid progress,” Square Inch remarked in surprise. “I was thinking I’d need to keep a closer eye on your side.”
“Let me see. Hmm... Fellow Daoist Xuanpin’s methods seem remarkably practiced, don’t they?” All Knowing added, studying Li Fan with considerable surprise.
Li Fan’s expression remained unchanged. “Every time I traverse the river of time backwards from the end of the Mountain and Sea, I suffer grievous wounds and must start anew. Practice makes perfect, that is all.”
The Saints nodded slightly but made no further comment.
Regardless, what Li Fan was doing was indeed beneficial to the reconnection of the Mountain and Sea.
“It seems I’ll have to speed things up a bit,” Jingui laughed, his gaze shifting away from Li Fan.
Silence fell upon the Other Shore once more.
Within the illusory Mountain and Sea, in the Xuanhuang Realm.
With the establishment of the first critical memory node, the entire world seemed to become more real.
At the very least, the immortal power flowing under Li Fan’s control was now almost identical to what he had seen in the true Mountain and Sea.
“The true and the false, the illusory and the real... where is the line drawn?”
“When the Mountain and Sea was devoured by the Star, it was remanifested by a single thought from Truth. How was that even achieved?”
Only by existing between the real and the illusory could one better comprehend the Dao of reality and illusion.
Though he sat motionless, Li Fan’s understanding of it grew with each passing day.
Before long, another critical juncture arrived.
In the southeastern corner of the Xuanhuang Realm, a hidden radiance flickered to life.
A True Immortal from the upper realm had secretly descended.
The True Immortal believed his movements were clandestine, never imagining that his every action, his every word, was under Li Fan’s complete control.
“Effortless and carefree... when trapped in the midst of calamity, how can one truly be effortless and carefree?”
The light and shadow faded, revealing the True Immortal’s face. He gazed toward the Immortal Realm, shook his head, and sighed.
Perhaps because a segment of memory had already been solidified, the scene manifested by the Mountain and Sea was now much clearer than what Li Fan had perceived from a distance on the Other Shore.
The face that was previously impossible to discern was now perfectly clear.
Li Fan had seen this True Immortal before.
It was the master of the Hunger Immortal, Wu Wei!
At this moment, he was unhurriedly making his way toward the Fishing Pond.
He had clearly known about the location of this Mountain and Sea Fishing Ground for some time.
He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying the process of his escape, not rushing but looking around as he walked.
“Long have I been in a gilded cage; now I return to nature’s embrace...”
He hummed the line, content and at ease.
But slowly, the look of ease on his face began to fade.
It was replaced by an expression of immense gravity.
“This place...”
“...something seems wrong.”
He stopped humming, a hint of panic in his eyes. Forgetting all about sightseeing, he quickened his pace and hurried to the edge of the Fishing Pond.
As if he had come prepared, he lightly cast his fishing rod.
He didn’t even sit down, but simply stood there, waiting to be hooked himself.
Soon, the water of the Fishing Pond trembled slightly. Ripples spread as an immense force surged up from below.
Far from being alarmed, Wu Wei was delighted. He offered no resistance and allowed himself to be pulled into the pond.
And vanished.
The surface of the Mountain and Sea Fishing Ground gradually returned to calm.
On the other side, it was impossible to know what had transpired.
But it caused the passage on the Xuanhuang Realm’s side to begin closing.
At that moment, just as Mingshu had done in actual history, Li Fan made his move.
All across the Xuanhuang Realm, points of starlight began to shine.
This was Li Fan pushing the power he could command to its absolute limit.
Behind the Fishing Pond, there was the faint presence of a Saint.
Although a true Saint could not manifest within the illusory Mountain and Sea, the illusion would instinctively use its memories to simulate a Saint’s might as closely as possible. Li Fan dared not be careless.
And events unfolded just as he had anticipated.
When he attempted to stop the passage of the Mountain and Sea Fishing Ground from closing, a mind-bogglingly powerful pulling force erupted from beneath the water’s surface.
Li Fan, sitting cross-legged in the void, nearly lost his stability.
Fortunately, he was well-prepared.
The roots of the Divine Wood were anchored in the earth veins of Xuanhuang; the world’s immortal artifacts were intertwined with the karmic fortune of their sects; and the primeval immortal formation was fused as one with Xuanhuang itself.
At this moment, all of them served as Li Fan’s tethers.
Weaving together, they helped him stabilize his form.
But the pulling force from the Fishing Pond was somewhat beyond Li Fan’s imagination.
Instead of diminishing when met with resistance, it grew even stronger.
It seemed determined not to rest until it had reeled in Li Fan, this “big fish”!
Because the current Li Fan was already deeply bound to the Xuanhuang Realm, the force was, in effect, trying to slowly drag the entire Xuanhuang Realm—and even the Primal Possibility itself—into the Fishing Pond!
No matter how many preparations he had made, all of Li Fan’s arrangements were dependent on the various elements within the Xuanhuang Realm.
This was a limitation imposed by the illusory memory itself.
How could they possibly contend with such an immense power?
Irresistibly, he was dragged inch by inch toward the Fishing Pond.
The events occurring in the illusory memory began to deviate from the true history of the Mountain and Sea.
In that instant, the entire world seemed to be veiled in a strange new color, becoming bizarre and unsettling.
The living beings within the world could not perceive it.
But the Saints on the Other Shore saw the change the moment it happened.
If Li Fan failed here, all the Saints’ work on this reconnection effort would be for naught.
In this emergency, the Connecting Mountains Saint acted decisively, sending a telepathic message: “Do not fight it head-on. Yield to its strength; there may be a turning point!”
Enlightenment struck Li Fan, and in an instant, he withdrew a portion of his power.
But he did not give up resistance entirely.
Because of the shift in the stalemate’s balance, it was as if the Xuanhuang Realm itself had fallen partway into the pond’s water.
The pond’s surface area remained the same, but it now looked much deeper, more abyss-like.
Strangely, as Li Fan eased his resistance, the force coming from the Mountain and Sea Fishing Ground also diminished.
After a few more tugs, it seemed to determine that this was not, in fact, a “big fish” and lost interest.
And then it abandoned the pull completely.
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